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Maybe Derry, Maine, isn’t the best place to live. Try Portland.

If you get this newsletter, we figure that there’s a pretty good chance you already live in Portland. That said, if you’re looking for another reason to move here, McSweeney’s has you covered. Writer Liam O’Brian explains why he’s leaving Derry, (Cough. Cough. Bangor) Maine. He writes:And yes, my early days after moving to Derry had their perks. The old-fashioned soda fountain was charming, and people seemed open-minded and friendly, if a little… vacant, I guess? I wasn’t expecting it to all be easy street. Okay, three (!) roommates in a row disappeared and were later found dismembered in a culvert. Okay, the pipes in my apartment would whisper my secret nickname known only to me and my long-dead grandfather. Okay, Maine winters are a little long. But them’s the breaks, right? Wrong.Not convinced to skip out on Derry for Portland? Here’s one more reason: You can see “It” at the Nickelodeon for just $5 tonight.

Bayside residents are talking about other ways to improve the area around the shelter. About 15 Baysiders sat down Monday night to discuss where new containers to hold needles should be placed, the effectiveness of cleaning the neighborhood and how to get police to enforce more loitering and public drinking violations, The Forecaster’s David Harry reports. Even as the city looks to move its shelter from Oxford Street, the facility’s director is also working on a plan for how it can better integrate with the nearby community.

The Portland City Council took a tour of the historic Fort Gorges,out in Casco Bay. The reason for the visit was that the historic fort is under renovation. The only problem was that there was no advance public notice of that a gathering of city councilors would be taking place, causing local media and at least one attorney to question whether it was an illegal meeting under Maine law. A city spokeswoman said the councilors did not conduct any business affecting citizens, had no pending actions related to the fort, and pointed to city social media posts about the trip as evidence that there was nothing secretive about it.’That not a fraud. You’re a fraud!’ — That, or something close, was Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s response to the head of Trump’s election fraud commission claiming to have found proof that thousands of people had committed voter fraud in New Hampshire. Kansas Secretary of State Chris Kobach had written in a column that 5,000 people registered to vote in New Hampshire with out-of-state driver’s licenses without promptly changing their licenses was evidence of fraud. Maine Public’s Steve Mistler reports that Dunlap “eviscerated” the claim.

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The Big Idea

The American middle class is making more money than it ever has before, according to the latest U.S. Census figures. Median household income in America was $59,039 last year, surpassing the previous high of $58,655 set in 1999, the Census Bureau said. The figure is adjusted for inflation. America’s poverty rate also fell to 12.7 percent , the lowest since 2007, the year before the financial crisis hit, the Washington Post reported. The reason? More people are able to find full-time and/or better-paying jobs, the Census Bureau reports.